Georgia ranked sleepiest state by recent survey

ALBANY — Results from a recent national survey found that 75 percent of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep and are averaging only 6.7 hours per night, below the recommended eight hours. The outcome of the survey indicated that Georgia did not fare so well.

The survey, done by Sleep Number, showed that Georgia is the sleepiest state in the nation with people in the Peach State getting an average of 6.09 hours of sleep per night. The survey said only 4.7 hours of Georgians’ sleep is restful. Thirty-nine percent of Georgians think they are not getting enough sleep, and 66 percent of people living in the state use electronic devices in bed — the latter of which encourages brain stimulation, making it harder to sleep if used within an hour of shutting off the lights.

Sixty-six percent of those surveyed in Georgia wish they knew more about improving sleep, yet only 19 percent actually track their sleep. Meanwhile, 38 percent are tracking diet and 46 track exercise, the survey found.

Phoebe Sleep Disorders Center Medical Director Dr. Christopher Mann, who was not involved in the study, indicated that a number of factors could have contributed to the sleep figures in Georgia.

“Generally, you need a certain amount of sleep to maintain good health,” he said. “For those who are chronically sleep-deprived, the effects of health are prolonged (and can be connected to conditions such as) cardiovascular disease and diabetes. More immediately, you are sleepier to the point you are accident prone.

“Getting enough sleep has some far-reaching effects. It’s not just a state issue, it’s a nationwide issue.”

Certain sleep disorders, as well as other individual circumstances, can decrease the quality of sleep by preventing the proper phasing of sleep rhythms.

“Shift workers get out of those phases,” said Mann.

Mann said that “poor sleep hygiene,” such as drinking too much caffeine late in the day, is a common sleep-related issue as well as lack of exercise and failure to maintain a routine.

“Your body wants regularity,” Mann said.

He also noted that, while some can get away with going right to sleep after being attached to an electronic device, people should still be careful.

“Some can get away with a little of that, but you want to limit it as much as you can,” Mann said. “(Get the room) at the proper temperature, get a better mattress and (turn the lights down).”

Since technology has continued to become a more regular part of life over the past several years, it is not believed the sleep trends currently in place reflect a recent shift.

“As society becomes more complex, things that (interrupt) sleep are more prevalent,” Mann said. “It’s probably getting worse over an extended period of time.”

A conversation with a doctor, he added, could help to examine a person’s habits and routines to get to the underlying cause of poor sleep before it causes problems beyond drowsiness.

“(Sleep) is one of the components for general well-being,” Mann said. “If you want better health, it involves all of those things. If you’ve missed a night or two, you could be moody and your mental processing (could be weakened). If you are doing that long-term, it could affect quality of life.”

On the national level, the study found that 54 percent of people think they don’t get enough sleep, and 64 percent use an electronic device in bed. Forty-one percent of people tracked diet, 43 percent tracked exercise and 16 percent tracked sleep.

Sleep-deprived people consume up to 400 extra calories per day, the survey said.

More than 40 percent of people get less than four hours of restful sleep, making them three to five times more likely to catch a cold, the survey said.

Some of the tips given by those releasing the study included moving bedtime up 15 minutes each night until sleep seems satisfactory, limiting use of electronic devices before bed, and tracking sleep for a week to journal what took place that day and to see how different actions or foods affect the quality of sleep.

The other sleepy states included Hawaii at 6.28 hours, Nevada at 6.31 hours, Oklahoma at 6.36 hours and Arizona at 6.39 hours. The states getting the most sleep, but are still not hitting the recommended eight hours, are Idaho at 7.12 hours, New Hampshire at 7.06 hours, Vermont at 7.06 hours, Montana at 6.95 hours and Oregon at 6.94 hours.

The study showed that more than half of people, 58 percent, wish they knew more about improving their sleep quality, with Hawaii at the top of that list at 78 percent. Yet few actually track their sleep like they do other parts of their lives.

“You spend one-third of your life in your bed, and the more you individualize your bed and bedding the better you will sleep,” said Pete Bils, Sleep Number’s vice president of Sleep Innovation and Clinical Research and chairman of the Better Sleep Council.

The methodology used for the study involved surveying members of GfK’s Knowledge Panel consumer online database. Data were weighted to the United States population ages 18-68. A total of 5,134 surveys were completed, approximately 100 in each state and Washington, D.C. There was a margin of error of about 3 percent, coordinators of the survey said.

The survey results can be found at www.sleepnumber.new-media-release.com/better_sleep_month.